


Blood and Treasure

by Menirva



Series: Find A New Home [4]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Daddy Kink, F/M, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Multi, Open Relationships, Threesome - F/M/M, nothing very graphic, war time violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 18:27:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20532572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menirva/pseuds/Menirva
Summary: Billy is still trying to find his place in the Castle household. The kids have some questions. Life goes on like it does.





	Blood and Treasure

It seemed like everyone had those happy memories from childhood, of long summers, and baseball games, and sticky popsicles. Of Christmas morning and their parents tucking them in. Or maybe they were a little older, their first summer love, their fist kiss under the bleachers, all candy sweet lip gloss. It didn't matter what, people were always looking back at those times like they were the best times of their life. Like nothing would ever compare to the past life they'd lived. Not Billy, though. For Billy, he already knew that he would have no fonder memory than these weeks on leave with Frank, with Maria, the kids. His family. He felt like he was waking up every day just to learn what happiness was, all over again.

God, he'd scared himself shitless over that. He'd skedaddled the fuck out of the house after breakfast, begging previous obligations when the whole family had tried to get him to go to mini golfing with them. He'd spent the rest of the morning at the local bar. He'd gone from shitless to shitfaced by the time Frank found him later in the day.

Billy spotted him the second he walked in. The rattle of the door always snapped his attention to it. Know the exits, know who was inside. Didn't matter where he was, there was a level of alertness that never left a marine, as far as he was concerned.

“Come on, your first drink on home soil without me, Billy?” Frank had chided when took a seat on the bar stool next to him, and ordered his own whiskey and beer.

“Sorry, Frankie,” Billy apologized, slowly tipping his empty shot glass upside down and letting it clink on the counter. He wasn't sure if Frank was actually upset, and he wasn't sure if he was actually apologizing. He used to be so sure of everything. When did that change? “Well was dry.”

“Hey, that's alright.” The stools were close together, not close enough that Frank's shoulder had to be pressed against his. That was intentional. “Missed a good time.”

“I'm sure it was great,” Billy answered, and took a pull from his pint glass. His tone was a little sarcastic and he didn't even know why. He _was_ sure it was great. Watching Frankie's big paws holding a golf club? Watching the kids laughing, and Maria cheating and toeing Lisa's golf ball into the hole so she didn't get so upset on being behind? He'd seen all of that before, and he was still sorry he missed it. “Next time...” he finally amended, and finally turned his head to meet Frank's gaze more, knowing he looked blurry eyed, but at least he wasn't slurring his words.

“Next time.” Frank simply looked at him and agreed. He let his shot clink against Billy's beer glass before he tossed it back. “You really want to come next time? You know you don't have to...” he offered, and Billy knew he meant more than just some stupid putt putt. He sat up more, trying to ignore the sudden desperate feeling clawing at his chest that he'd already done something that might retract the things they'd been offering him.

“No!” he said a little louder than he meant to, feeling a few heads turning to look at him. He shook his head and cleared his throat, trying to keep it quieter. “I do, Frankie. I want all of that dumb shit. I love it. I do... I just. I don't... I don't think I have enough in me for this.”  
  
“Booze?” Frank asked, scoffing a little, but his tone was amused, not mad, fond enough and worried enough that Billy pressed on.

“_Emotions_,” he whispered out, voice thin in the air. “I don't—” He stopped, because how did he even say this? “I don't know if I can feel this enough. I don't know, Frankie. Sometimes I think I know, but then I'm second guessing myself. I don't want it not to be real inside.” He thumped the flat of his hand over his chest. “Is this real or do I just think it is? Do I just think I should feel it so I'm fucking tricking myself? Am I ever gonna know if I'm really happy? _If I really love you?_” His voice sounded raw by the time he got it out. It was nonsense. It was a ramble. Of course Frank could never understand what the hell he was going on about. Frank Castle knew and felt every emotion he had. He was a tough son of a bitch, but those damn emotions were on his sleeve.

Frank was quiet. That was that, he'd finally driven him off. Billy was steeling himself to prepare to deal with that, already figuring out what the closest hotel to the airport was, when he felt Frank's hand on his shoulder. The squeeze and rub there was reassuring, and Billy closed his eyes, letting himself lean into it.

“I know, Billy... I know things don't work the same, for you. You're my brother. I've known that for a long time. I don't know if it's always been like that, or if the shit you went through did it... But it's ok. You trust _me_, right?”

Billy found himself taking a deep, relieved breath, and nodding quickly. When he turned to face Frank again, he could feel his eyes burning. “With my damn life. You know that, you know that.”

“Damn right I do. So trust me with yours... Do I know you, Billy?”

“Frankie... Fuck, I swear you know me better than I know my god damn self, sometimes,” Billy whispered.

“Damn right,” Frank repeated. He reached out and took Billy's hand, squeezing it hard and clearly not caring if anyone in the bar was looking. “Now you listen good. You love me, Billy Russo._ I know that_. Know it in my fucking bones. I also know you love Maria. You love the kids. Trust me that _I_ can know that for you. Let yourself live in that... Let yourself believe it. We've got time, Billy... Spend that time helping yourself understand it, too, ok? ”

“Ok... Ok.” Billy felt himself choking a little on the simple agreement, and fuck it didn't matter where they were, Frank was hugging him right when he needed him to, and he was holding on tight. They'd stumbled home, thank god Maria and the kids were still out so they didn't see him drunk in the middle of the day like an asshole. Frank had put him in their bed, fucking tucking him in, kissing him and probably tasting everything he'd drunk.

“Taking care of me?” Billy smiled a little, still drunk, but fucking warm and cozy, too. Frank was laughing softly against his ear, kissing it, kissing him again, like everything was ok.

“Daddy's always gonna take care of you, Billy. Protect you, even if it's from your damn self...We're gonna teach you what happiness is, baby boy. Not gonna ever be able to escape outta here without loving us.”

Billy let him go with a grateful nod, heard Maria in the doorway as he was dozing off his alcohol and uncertainty, whispering. “Is he ok?”

“Yeah, he's going to be fine,” Frank whispered back, and there was so much confidence in that tone that Billy believed it, too. What was real love? What was true happiness? He let himself drift off to sleep determined to let Frank help him figure it out.

-

Frank stood outside the bedroom door for a while, listening to Billy snore, and chewing his lip a little after Maria had gone to help the kids put away the groceries. He'd explained a few things to her, told her Billy had a hard time sometimes with his feelings, got overwhelmed suddenly realizing just how much he was being offered. It wasn't the whole story, it wasn't all his to tell, but he never liked to hide shit from his wife, and he knew Billy knew that, too. Had he mishandled the whole day? He hoped not. Telling Billy to put all of that trust in him was a damn tall order, but it felt like it had gone well. He hadn't lied to Billy in the bar. He'd always known what he was getting into when he'd extended his friendship to Billy, and then later on his love.

There were things different in Billy. That was just a fact of life. Maybe it was like he'd said, the mishandling had shaken a couple of cogs loose in his system, maybe not everything revolved the same way and it had always been like that. Regardless, Billy had needed to find his own ways to keep his machinery ticking, and Frank wasn't going to judge him if that meant his was off-rhythm from the world. His job was to make sure he understood that his heart was still beating.

Billy had looked a little sheepish when he came to the table for dinner, clearly a little hung over if his bit of wincing from the kids shouting back and forth was any indication. He leaned into Maria's kiss to the cheek, though, when she walked over to him. Frank watched him as he just smiled at the kids and looked at them while they argued over who got which piece of cornbread.

“Uncle Bill, we're going to the zoo, tomorrow... Are you gonna be busy?” Lisa had finally turned her attention on Billy, even if her hand was hovering towards the bread plate during the momentary truce with her brother.

“Course not, angel face.” Billy reached across the table to snatch the piece of cornbread that was causing world war III for himself, and ignoring their protests as he swiped his butter knife over it. “Just had a few things to take care of, today, but I'm all yours for the rest of the time, huh?”

Frank didn't have to worry. Billy kept that promise. They'd gone to the zoo the next day, bowling and ice cream the next, and then the carousel, of course, where he'd gotten pictures of all of them on painted ponies, even Maria and Billy. Those days were all of theirs. He could sometimes feel Billy quiet beside him, just watching them, no fake smile, just studying all of them, like he was trying to figure out exactly what he was feeling, how he fit. Frank would take his hand during those times when he could, squeeze it, let him understand he knew he was processing things, and even if it was different, it wasn't bad. Frank was far from a shrink, but he knew the last person Billy would ever talk to was a shrink, so this was what they had.

They took Billy to bed each night. Both him and Maria. It was their bed, so the invitation was from both of them. It had to be, or it wasn't right, but both of them wanted him there. One night and neither one could picture Billy not fitting in there. Three was definitely not a crowd. Not when Frank could watch them touching each other.

God, he couldn't get enough of either of them. He felt like a drowning man, and there was no better safe haven in the world than his bed. They didn't even have to fuck, though they sure helped themselves to that, too, no. He just wanted to run his hands over their skin. He wanted to feel Maria's softness, wanted to smell her hair and tickle the little spot under her knee that always made her shriek. He wanted to feel Billy clean of sand and blood. Wanted the sweat he tasted on his skin to come from pleasure and nothing from pain.

-

Frank set up a night for just him and Billy, smiled a little at the surprise on the man's face when he told him about it.

“What about...”

“Hey, me and you.” Frank slipped his arms around him from behind and kissed the back of his shoulder. They were in the bedroom. Billy had gone to change after getting back from a run, and Frank had followed him to steal some kisses and tell him the plan.

“Bar tonight, me and you, huh? Maybe I'll give you something nice there, too...”

“Jesus, horndog. Tempting as a bathroom blowjob is... I don't want to be greedy, Frankie. I know you only get so much time with them.” Billy tried one more time, his words cut off by a low groan when Frank's hand shifted lower. He cupped him through his jeans, manhandling his cock a little.

“We only get so much time away from all that shit, too, Billy. Daddy said, me and you. Got that?”

“Mhm.” Billy moaned, agreeing quickly and feeling his skin heat up as he leaned back into Frank's embrace. Truth was, he'd been hoping for just what Frank was offering, but he'd meant what he said. He didn't want Frank spending too much time on him and regretting it when it got to be time to get back to the desert.

“Great.” Frank's teeth grazed over a little dip of skin over Billy's shirt collar that had his toes curling just a little on the carpet. Shit. He groaned and let his head drop back on Frank's shoulder when the man just laughed and his wide hands squeezed his ass. “Oh yeah, we're gonna have fun, Billy baby,” he promised, and Bill believed it.

They spent the night playing pool. They both _sucked_ at pool. If Maria had been there, she would have cleaned house for them, and Billy was surprised when he found he missed that a little. This, this was great, though. He couldn't keep the smile off his face after he was a few beers in. They'd picked a bar they hadn't frequented before, further off. Billy wondered if that was for his sake or Frank's or both. He liked the anonymity it brought, though. Civilian clothes, paying in cash. No one knew them from anyone else, and if anyone asked about them the next day they'd be hard pressed to remember any details. It felt great.

Frank's hand on his ass also felt great, which seemed to happen more and more with each round. The first time had made Billy miss his shot, the light sudden pat to his ass in public almost sending the end of his pool cue skidding over the green felt. When he twisted his head back to give Frank a dirty look, the man wasn't even _looking_ at him. He was just leaning over the wooden edge of the table and pretending to study his next more.

“You know, I could have you arrested for that,” Billy griped a little, biting the inside of his cheek to hold back a grin.

“For what?” Frank asked, a little too good at playing dumb. Must have been all of the real world practice.

“Ok, ok, wise guy.” Billy let it go, and then the next one. Frank was careful. He knew how to get away with shit when no one was looking their way. His strong hand squeezed Billy’s ass at one point, taking his time and rubbing over the curve of it before moving on to take his turn. Next time, it was a pair of self-assured fingers dragging up Billy's inner thigh, just touching across his balls and making him fucking shudder before he straightened from his shot.

“You ever play this game with Maria?” he finally asked, cheeks feeling a little warm, and he was kidding himself if he was gonna act like it was the weak beer they were serving in this place.

“What, pool?”

“Sure, _pool_.” Billy shot him a pointed look, and Frank grinned a little, finally letting his cards show and clearly proud of himself.

“Yeah, maybe... More than that, when we were younger.”

“What's _mor_e than that?” he couldn't resist asking.

“Well...” Frank's face got that fond look he was always getting about his wife. Jesus, he thought maybe it didn't happen when Maria was in the same state as him, but clearly Billy was wrong. What a sap.

“Come on, spill it. Now you got me curious.”

“Alright, but only ’cause I know she wouldn't mind you knowing,” Frank added seriously. “She used to like to wear these skirts, no panties, you know? You'd be surprised what you can get up to like that... Sometimes we'd go to a bar or a club and she'd just sit in my lap... No one was the wiser.”

“Fucking _A_, Frankie. How the fuck did I not know about you two, huh?” Billy shook his head, already picturing it, Frank settled back with a beer, Maria perched on his lap, skirt spread out to hide the fact that her then boyfriend had slipped himself inside of her. “Fucking kinkiest people I ever met, and right under my nose about it the whole time.”

“Hey, not our fault you got us pegged wrong,” Frank defended, still grinning. “You wanted to see all-American family, so you saw it, right?”

“Apple pie and the most vanilla sex. Always missionary.”

“Hey, I still like missionary,” Frank defended.

“Sure, sure.” Billy waived him off. It hadn't been really was the discussion was about, anyway. He ended up leaning a little closer. Frank smelled good. He was wearing a little cologne, and it made Billy’s stomach flutter funny when he realized he'd put it on for _him_. Frank had dressed up a little nicer for him, too: button down, collared shirt, and black jeans. Like he considered this a real date. God, he was getting too gushy. This man was ruining everything inside of him. He shook off the thought and ran his fingers down Frank's buttons lightly. “So what position do _I_ get, tonight?”

That answer he found out in the bar bathroom. Single stall _thank god_, even though he knew that meant they'd have to be even faster before someone tried knocking down the locked door. He wanted to get fucked. He didn't know when feeling Frank inside of him had become such a craving, but it was one he'd have to satisfy later. He thought maybe Frank would put him on his knees, was somehow still surprised when it was Frank who was doing the kneeling. Really, though? He should have known. How many times was it going to take of Frank dropping onto his knees for Billy to get in his head that the man just loved to give?

“Come on, baby, show daddy,” Frank murmured in encouragement, and rubbed a heavy hand over Billy's denim-clad cock until Billy was fumbling at his jeans button to fish himself out. He was feeling breathless and heavy, leaning hard against the bathroom wall and biting back a quiet cry of pleasure when Frank didn't waste a damn second, just whispered a soft, “Yeah, there we go,” in praise, and slipped the head of Billy's cock between his lips easy as could be.

He sucked him down far enough for Billy to make a low choking noise as he gasped for air, felt Frank's tongue drag over the base of him before he was back up and just rubbing his pink lips against the slippery mess covering his slit. “God, you taste good, baby. Love how you taste,” he whispered, and Billy shivered a little, felt his cock already twitching, begging for more. He tried to dig his fingers into Frank's hair, but he'd learned early on it was too frustratingly short. His nails scraped over his scalp instead, and it just seemed to egg him on.

“Yeah, baby, look at me. Come on. You like being in daddy's mouth? Like me touching all over you? Like me sucking on this pretty cock?” Frank just kept encouraging him as he stroked a heavy hand down his shaft, pumped him and popped him in and out of his mouth to suck at his own leisure. Like they had all the time in the world here for Frank to work him up with his dirty talk.

The only thing filthier than Frank's mouth was what he was doing with his tongue. It was making Billy weak in the knees as he wheezed out a yes. “Yes, yes, _fuck_ it's good. You know it is. You know what you do to me.”

Frank grinned up at him a little, lips shining and turning from pink to red. “Yeah I do, baby. Gonna come for, Billy baby? Come on, daddy wants to swallow you up,” he coaxed before he had Billy back between his lips.

“Shit—_Shit!_” Billy grit his teeth hard as his hips jerked. The bar was loud, but he wasn't about to risk being overheard as he came, his orgasm making his thighs tremble and his toes curl in his boots as Frank pillowed his lips around Billy's cock and dutifully swallowed away any evidence.

Billy stayed leaning against the wall, opening his eyes when he heard the sink running. He watched Frank rinse and wash his face and hands. Nice and proper. Frank had so many levels under that good old boy look that Billy wondered just who was hiding from whom sometimes... He shook off the thought and cleaned himself up a little before tucking back in. They had another round, and then another. They called a cab and stumbled quietly back into bed with Maria. Maria who was breathing softly, already asleep. Billy lay down beside them and watched Frank brush the hair from her face, kissing her awake. Felt Maria's hand reach out to make sure he was there with them as she kissed her husband and fell back asleep beside them.

-

“Uncle Bill, how come you weren't on the couch, last night?” Junior had posed the question innocently enough at the breakfast table. The kids were going back to school, today. Maria had pulled them out for a few days, but they knew it wasn't good to disrupt everything, no matter how bad Frank wanted his babies with him at all times when he was on leave. Billy had made eggs and toast for them all, was over washing out the frying pan when the question came. He glanced over at the table, fixing an easy smile on his face.

“Sure I was, must have just caught me taking a piss, champ.” Billy caught the look Maria was shooting him and looked properly chastised. “Sorry, taking a wiz.”

“But I saw you go into mom and dad's room. You didn't come out.”

Billy opened his mouth and Maria interrupted. “Just what were you doing, young man, what have I told you about sneaking out to play games at night?”

“I couldn't sleep! I thought Uncle Bill could play Mario Kart with me, but he wasn't _there_,” Junior pointed out, circling back to the point of conversation that Frank had hoped he would forget.

“He wasn't there the night before, either,” Lisa chimed, then at her mother's look quickly amended, “I was just getting a drink, mom, I _swear_. But he wasn't there.”

Frank had been worried these kinds of observations and questions would come up eventually. But he was hoping for later rather than sooner... much later. College was always a good time for them to figure out the world. Maria had already talked to him about the possibility. Before anything had even _started_. She was pragmatic like that. She always tackled anything with the kids head on, no hiding, warrior-mom style. If there was the possibility of _anything _happening, she was going to know if it was going to be ok for the kids. She'd pulled up studies on adults who had been raised in poly families, read any article she could find. When she'd shown Frank, he'd been a little relieved that all the signs seemed to point in a good direction, that they weren't going to fuck anything up.

That didn't mean he wanted to be the one explaining, though, and Lisa had trained her eyes expectantly on him. When _he_ hadn't even been part of the conversation, yet.

“Uncle Billy was just... Spending some time with us,” he finally tried, and knew before he was even done saying it that that couldn't possibly be the end of it.

“In your _bed?” _Lisa's eyebrows had shot up so high they almost reached her forehead, and Frankie Junior immediately was looking at all three of them with a level of scrutiny Frank would have liked to believe his kids weren't old enough to achieve, yet.

“It doesn't matter _where_,” Maria finally chimed in, her tone serious. “It only matters that we wanted to spend some time together, right? Bill is part of our family. I miss having him around, too, and your daddy gets to hog him all to himself while they're away.”

It was a good answer. A solid, good answer, but his kids were too damn perceptive for any of their own good.

“Oh my god, _gross,_” Frank Junior whispered with the same level of disgust he gave to anything he deemed more PG-rated than a kiss on the cheek.

Frank looked over at Billy who had been dead silent since the start of the conversation’s turn, hands braced back on the kitchen counter, clearly not wanting to say the wrong thing, and Billy's dark eyes made him look like a deer trapped in headlights.

“I think it's nice.” Lisa piped up, to Frank's surprise. “... So, you're like Rose Quartz with Greg Universe and Pearl, in Stephen universe, but different?” she asked, and Frank squinted a little in confusion.

“_What?” _His tone was clearly perplexed, and when he looked to his wife for help with that one, she was covering her hand with her mouth to hold back a soft giggle. God damn it, they were supposed to be a team on this.

“Yes, honey. It's something like that,” Maria finally agreed, still smiling. “And you don't have to worry about it, if you don't like it,” she told their son, reaching out to smooth his hair. “It doesn't change anything for you two. Does it?”

“I guess not...”

“Good, finish your toast. Dad's taking you to school,” she informed him in a tone that told the table the entire conversation was finished. It took a few seconds, but it moved onto different things, and by the time he was gathering backpacks, it seemed to be forgotten entirely.

-

Maria leaned against the door after kissing the kids goodbye, feeling her heart fluttering still in her chest. She'd tried to play things calmly at the breakfast table, but she'd been so worried about how the conversation could have gone. Billy was still in the kitchen, the dishes were long done, and they had a dishwasher on top of that, but he seemed to be trying little things to do keeping himself busy.

“It could have been worse, you know?” she told him as she walked back over, watching him swipe a sponge over a spot on the countertop that had been permanently stained red over a year ago from sticky Kool Aid fingers.

“Feels shitty you even had to talk to them, at all.” Billy finally set down the sponge and looked at her. He was forcing a smile. “They're kids...”

“Billy, they don't think the stork brought them,” Maria pointed out. They'd given the kids 'the talk' themselves a long time ago, about love, all different types of love, though she could admit now that _this_ had definitely not been on the list.

“I know, I know, but it's different,” he argued.

“Well sure,” Maria agreed, “But they're ok. We haven't broken them yet, Billy,” she promised as a joke, but her smile faded a little when she could see the genuine worry in his eyes. She wondered if that was exactly what he was worried about, scarring them. She didn't know as much about Billy's past as Frank did, but she knew enough, and she wouldn't stand for him to think that he was messing up their kids just by being there with them. “You being here isn't going to ruin them, Billy. I think you know that.”

Billy nodded, shoulders dropping a little. “I just... Worry, you know?”

“Of course you do, Billy. That's what family does.” She reached out and took his hand. She kissed his knuckles before her smiled turned a little more mischievous. She was no dummy, she knew Frank had offered to drive the kids by himself for a reason. He'd gotten his time alone with Billy... He'd whispered in her ear the fun he'd had with him the night before while they lay together. Now she was gonna steal a little for herself. She doubted Billy would mind being sucked off two days in a row.

“Now... If we're done worrying over our children, I've got something for you in the bedroom...” she said sweetly, turning on her heels and pulling him along.

“Oh yeah? I mean I guess I could take a look... wait did you say _our_ children?”

“You can't give them back,” Maria informed him seriously as she pulled him into the bedroom.

-

“Now that's not fair. Jesus, you're tricky.” Billy was finally relaxing. He'd been tense since the first question from the kids, but it seemed like Maria's distraction tactics mostly included sex, much like her husband’s. He wondered who learned that from whom. Maybe they just had to get it while they could when Frank was home. He wasn't going to complain. “What are you doing to me, huh?” he asked when he was sat on the bed and Maria stood in front of him. Her hands were cupping his face, and he'd noticed quickly she liked this position a lot, not to fuck, but to just be standing over him or Frank, holding onto them, pushing away the rest of the world. Maria Castle had a protective streak a mile long, and it clearly extended to him.

“I thought I'd thank you for your service with a blow job.” Maria kissed his forehead and managed to keep a straight face as she said it. Billy was impressed.

“Oh yeah? And here every comedian in the world keeps telling me married women don't give those.”

“Well, not to our _husbands_. But...” Maria shot back with a playful grin, and leaned in close to his ear to whisper as she unbuttoned his shirt. “If you don't tell my husband, I won't tell your daddy.” Billy groaned a little. Should that have kind of turned him on? Eh. Grey area. He just knew he was hard when Maria's hand found him.

“I'll take it to my grave,” he promised, skimming his hands down her arms. It had only taken a few days for him to make himself familiar with Maria's body. Frank had a smoking hot wife, and he had a smoking hot... girlfriend? lover? He was never gonna get a handle on what exactly to think of them as.

-

If he had asked Maria, she would have simply called Billy their 'other'. Billy was that 'other' part of Frank that she knew he cherished like he did her, that 'other' that she was falling just as in love with. She had never bought into the idea that every woman had a nurturing side, the news was a quick enough reality dose for that, but she knew she had one, and that her husband had been right that Billy needed some nurturing, something stable. She knew that both of them were the people to give that. Both of them were greedy enough to take it, too.

“I like how you look at me, Billy,” she whispered against his chest.

“How do I look at you?” Billy asked. He'd closed his eyes but now they were opening back up slowly to look down at her, a little smile on his face, cocky. She'd shifted to her knees on the carpet, but she leaned up now and kissed it off of him to replace it with something nicer, something that felt more genuine.

“Like you're trying to figure out how you feel about me.” She watched his brow cock up just a little, clearly not having expected the answer.

“You... You like _that_?” Billy finally asked, and leaned in closer, the tip of his nose touching her. She understood. Most people liked their partners to be _certain_ about things, especially about how they felt about them. But, as far as she was concerned, with everything she'd learned about Billy over the years for herself and through Frank, if Billy was trying to figure out how he felt about you... then he knew exactly how he felt about you, and his head just needed time to catch up to his off-kilter heart.

He needed time, but her time with her boys would always be limited. She would always have to cheat a little. Take what she could when she could, until they were gone from her again.

So she took him into her mouth with just the slightest dip of her head, and listened to his low sigh of pleasure, felt his fingers tangle lightly at the ends of her long hair as he reached to rest his hand on her upper arm. For all that they both now teased Frank about his obsession with putting his mouth on them, she was rather fond of returning the favor. Frank liked slow, gentle, and deep with this. He always had. Maria never had to show him that. Their first time together had left her body quivering in aftershocks as he'd taken his time to lovingly eat her out before filling her. No rush.

Unlike now. Maria took Billy in both hands. She pushed Billy's length through the channel her hands made, while her tongue curled quickly and greedily around the silky head of his cock. She lapped at his slit, tasting precome, and her lips curled into a slightly cruel smile when she felt him whine lightly over her.

“Jesus, you both are too much,” Billy complained a little, and they both knew it wasn't a complaint. He didn't want either of them to stop.

“You're ok,” she both soothed and decided for him, before he was back in her mouth. She let his low moans and quick pants guide her in what felt the best for him. She kept her fist tight around him, stoking along his base where her mouth couldn't reach. She was far from neat, and she could tell he liked that all the more. She could feel him twitching in her hand, and felt the same kind of power she did when she guided her hand against Frank, holding his pleasure there and deciding when to give it.

“Look at me, Billy,” she whispered. Her breath was warm as it fanned over the wet tip of his cock, but it still made him shiver. Maria pillowed her lips there in a slippery, sucking kiss until he gasped and opened his eyes for her, staring down at her.

“Y...Yeah?” The question was breathless, his focus on her slowly drawing him back from wherever he'd drifted off as she’d pleasured him. They couldn't have that. Billy belonged here, and his pleasure belonged here, too.

“Are you ours, Billy?” Maria asked sweetly, a loaded question that she knew was an unfair thing to toss at him when she could feel how close to coming he was with each little twitch in her hand. Good.

“Yeah... Yeah.” He panted the words out as his eyes locked with hers, deep and liquid black, so focused on her touch and gaze now that she didn't doubt for a second that she was all that was on his mind. “Please... Yeah, please, I know. I am.” He whispered, quiet, promising.

“Good... You're ok, sweetheart, let go,” she encouraged him. Her lips parted into a satisfied smile when his hips jerked, and she cupped her hand over the head of his cock, his come warming her hand in thick ropes. She eased back on the bed beside him and laid her head on his shoulder, feeling him catch his breath as much as she heard it. Billy kissed her, nosed her cheek a little, and she bit playfully at his shoulder.

“Frank will be home soon.”

“Oh yeah? What's on the docket today?” Billy asked.

“It's a surprise.”

“Oh, _Jesus_. I hate when either one of you two says that shit.”

She laughed at the pure horror in his tone, and shooed him off to go freshen up.

-

The plan was one Frank had already discussed with Maria a few times, now, whenever they had a chance to talk over voice chat. It was something she'd been working a little bit at a time, a month or so now, to prepare. Well, as much as she could. She'd decluttered the house, cleaned out their own storage in the garage, and she had permission to use her uncle’s pickup truck on standby. It hadn't been a sure thing, after all, but this was something they'd wanted to do for Billy for a while now, anyway.

It had been her idea. They both knew Billy had stuff in storage. After his last apartment lease had run out, he hadn't been around to renew it, so he'd arranged to have his things moved into storage, and, well... he'd been sleeping on their couch ever since then, whenever he was back in the states, like he was just between apartments. Neither of them had said anything, but it was time to fix it.

She'd waited for Frank to come back before sharing the news together. She liked seeing the little bit of confusion crossing over Billy's face, his eyebrows drawing in before a slow grin stretched his cheeks.

“So what, you're asking me to move in with you?”

“Billy. You _already_ live with us.” Maria laughed. “We just want your stuff with us, too.”

“So you want me to move in with you,” Billy repeated, and she suspected he just liked the sound of it. “Jesus, you two work fast.”

“Not that fast.” Frank rubbed a hand over Billy's back. “But we all know the score, huh? Only get so much time all together... Gotta know what we want and just go for it, huh?”

“And you want me.” Billy's grin never left his face. If anything, it got more cocksure, and Maria almost reached to playfully rub a hand over his mouth, but Frank beat her to it.

They worked on it a little bit each day while the kids were in school, moving Billy into their lives more permanently. It wasn't that he had a lot of stuff, it was more that they wanted to make sure it all fit right where it was supposed to be, didn't just get shoved in a corner somewhere.

They moved furniture, replaced some things, swapped out others, made love on the couch in the middle of the day, and smoked a little of the pot Maria had surprised Billy with. She loved seeing his face when she brought it out. She knew they smoked sometimes, but she hadn't been there to join in. Did he think there was _anything_ about her husband that she didn't know and share? They giggled over stupid things, ate the secret stash of junk food they kept from the kids, and spent hours getting nothing done but exploring each other’s bodies.

The entire time was perfect. Billy couldn't think of anything nicer than walking into the house, into their home, and seeing his own touches there mingled in with theirs. They had made Billy understand that this was his home now, too. It was perfect, the only thing that made it less so was knowing he'd be leaving it soon. He usually didn't have an issue with that. The marines had always been his life. He'd always missed the states a little when he was away, but he'd never really let himself think about missing Maria and the kids. They hadn't felt like something he was really allowed to miss when Frank was doing all of that for them.

But here he was now, lying in bed with them the night before shipping back out. He was running his fingers slowly down the dip of Maria's spine, occasionally bumping into Frank's fingers as he did the same. Maria had taken both of them that night, had ridden Billy's fingers and Frank's tongue until she'd needed to smack them away, give her some peace. Neither of them could help it, and Billy doubted she really wanted them to. They were all getting their fill until they could come home from the end of their tour. Months apart, and Billy felt maudlin as shit about it. Jesus, they'd broken him. He snorted at himself and kissed Maria’s shoulder. Fully house trained. God damn it.

“I have something for you...” Maria murmured in his ear, and Billy laughed. God, these two were not subtle. He reached to squeeze her breast, getting a squeak and a little push to his hand.

“Not _that_. I'm not as bad as Frank.”

“Sure, Maria, honey, sure,” Billy answered sweetly, and earned a little swat to his chest. He watched her get up from the bed, shooting Frank a questioning look, but Frank had already tapped out, half asleep on Billy's thigh. There was gonna be drool there, in the morning. Again. Gross. He reached down to run his fingers over the back of Frank's scalp, the buzzed hair there tickling his fingers.

Maria came back over to the bed, and he turned his attention back to her, opening his mouth to tease her again but stopping mid-thought when he saw what she was holding in her hand. A plain white envelope, the opening sealed shut with the delicate pink shade of lipstick marks. He knew that color, and he knew exactly what she was giving him. He'd watched in silence as she’d handed one to Frank that morning to pack away with his things. She always sent him off with her first letter to read once his boots were back on sand. Something to look at and remember each night, before her first overseas letters came. His throat felt a little tight when he knew that this one was his.

“You didn't have to...” he whispered, and Maria leaned down, her hands cupping his cheeks, and she kissed his forehead.

“Of course I did, Billy... Now, you have to promise me the same thing I make Frank promise when he leaves us. Understand?” She guided his head so that he was looking up at her, and he felt his eyes burning a little, felt her thumb smooth just above his cheekbone.

“I promise... I'm gonna do everything in my power to come back to you,” Billy swore, and closed his eyes, breathing in a little and letting that promise live between them. Maria kissed his forehead before letting go, wiping quickly at her own eyes, before smiling.

“You’d better.”

If Billy had hated the sand, before... Now it chafed him everywhere. It was like their reprieve had broken down his immunity to it. Maybe he'd just let his defenses down with Frank and Maria, and he was too raw everywhere. Hell if he knew how to fix that, though. Didn't know if it was worth it, not at the risk of shuttering himself back up. He hadn't opened his letter up, yet, couldn't bring himself to. He’d just set it down beside his cot as he straightened the blankets for the third time.

Frank elbowed him a little, and Billy pushed lightly at his hands. “I'm fine, I'm fine.”

“It gets easier. Not easy, but easier.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

That first day aside, Frank was right. Not easy, but easier. He kept Maria's letter tucked into his pocket and, geeze, now he really was as bad as Frank. He eased back into his old footsteps, and shot the shit with his fellow soldiers, made jokes at debriefings, sucked Frank's cock in the storage tents, made back dealings with the brass. Oh yeah, coming back to that was another hard dose of reality, but it was what it was. He would still gut himself before he told Frank about it.

That deal with the devil was paying off, though. He'd already made arrangements for when this tour was over. He always re-upped with Frankie, but they'd have about a year, and he planned to make the most of that. He had the names and connections of everyone he'd need to follow through on his start up. He had the backing and start up cash to start vetting employees. He even knew who some of the first people he was going to start targeting as customers would be. He hadn't told Frank much of it. It wasn't that he wasn't excited, or that he didn't want him to know, but he wanted it to be a sure thing, a slam dunk. Then, he'd bring Frankie on. Hell, he'd fucking make him co-owner if the man wanted, even if he was sure he'd insist he didn't have to be since this was clearly Billy's baby.

Hell, maybe they wouldn't even sign back up. He'd always planned on just having someone else oversee things if he got called back to duty, but now... Billy had been rolling the idea around in his head for a little while now, even before all of the shit with the brass had happened. All of this just felt too dirty, even for him. The interrogations, the executions... This didn't feel like war, anymore, or if it was, it felt like the kind where you lost even if you won.

Billy had no idea how to broach that to Frankie, though. None. He'd served with the man since boot camp. He couldn't imagine Frank Castle as anything else but a solider, and he didn't think Frank could, either. That left him in a fucking bind, because the one thing he couldn't picture doing was leaving Frank behind in the sand.

-

Frank tried to be good for Billy, but that didn't mean he didn't have his own flaws. That meant he didn't let Billy see when he was struggling. Maybe that was wrong of him, but he couldn't. Frank liked to give Billy and Maria all of him... But it felt like ever since they'd gotten placed on operation Cerberus, there were some things that were just too much shit packed into everything they were doing here. Billy was living it with him, he didn't have to hear Frank's thoughts on it, and he sure didn't have to know about the shit he got assigned to do without him. When Maria had asked, and he'd told her it was hard here, harder than it had been before, that had to be enough said on the matter.

So when he got assigned to bury the body he'd just executed out in the desert with Gunner, when the brass told him to dig the bullet out, no trace, Billy didn't need to know about that. Billy didn't have to live with that, so Frank didn't tell him, and he didn't let himself over-analyze which of them he was protecting more, Billy or himself. What had they been told? This war was dirty, but it was what was needed. Frank wasn't sure how much he believed that, not anymore, but here they were. He did his best to protect Billy where he could and when he could, which was one of the biggest reasons he opened his mouth when Schoonover and Agent Orange went over their newest tactical mission. The hairs on the back of his neck were crawling just looking down at the map. That target hung down in the middle like a big juicy bone, wrapped up nice and pretty for them. Who could look at that and not see a trap?

-

“We really doing this, Frankie?” Billy had asked quietly the second they were alone. He knew the answer. They both did. So he didn't even know why he was bothering.

“Don't see how we have any other choice, Bill. Looking at a court martial, at best, we don't carry on,” Frank pointed out what they both already knew as he got dressed and combat ready.

Billy pressed his lips together, face more than a little grim. “Ours is not to question why, huh?” he said, tasting the bitter truth on his own tongue as he quoted the line back to him, thinking about when Frank had told him just exactly what had happened to those men.

“Hey.” Frank leveled a look at him. They were alone right now for a few fleeting moments, and Frank's hands were on him, cupping the sides of his head and pulling him down a little so their foreheads touched. “We don't die, Billy. Not like this. We watch each other’s backs like we always do, and we get back to the boss, huh?”

“Right,” Billy agreed, hoping, something he didn't do a lot of, that speaking it into existence might just make it real.

-

There was blood everywhere. There was gunfire still rattling in his ears. The shit they'd been sent into... It was a miracle, a fucking god damn miracle named Frank Castle that they were out alive. Billy rubbed his hands together, feeling the blood on them, feeling the cold numb tingling down to his toes. He'd only been able to breathe again when he’d seen a corpsman helping Frank sit back down beside him in the tent, looking wrecked to shit, but _alive_, fucking _alive_ after throwing himself into the enemy’s line of defense to get them out.

He only sprang up to his feet when he saw Frank barreling down on Agent Orange, and it sure as hell wasn't to help out his meal ticket. The accusing shout as he shoved Frank into the other room, though? Fuck that hurt, maybe as much as anything he'd felt today.

“Protecting him, I'm protecting _you_, asshole!” he shouted, even though his lungs felt shredded and he raked his hands through his hair. “Look at me. We can't do this _shit_ anymore, Frank! Look at yourself. Look at us. What would Maria think of _us_.” Billy choked out the words, and god damn, he was ashamed. When had he ever felt _ashamed_ of himself? Never. Never, and the thought almost made him angry.

“I'm putting in a transfer back to force,” he finally said, letting the words hang between them, heavy in the air before he left the tent. He left Frank there on his knees, and only stopped a few feet outside of the tent. He took a shuddering breath and scrubbed his dirty hands over his face. He didn't know where this left _them._

-

“Bill...” Frank's voice was barely a whisper, still choked off by his tapered-off rage and the taste of blood coating his mouth. He was right. What was happening to them? He'd known this was bad for him, and it was bad for Bill. He was supposed to be taking care of him, and he hadn't even thought about taking them out of it. Point and shoot. Kill who they were told, torture whoever needed it. It was like he'd told Gunner when he questioned things too much. No one was asking for their opinions while they were there. Somehow he'd internalized that, not fucking _let _himself have an opinion while he was here. Jesus, Billy's desperate words had ripped off a veil Frank hadn't even known was covering his eyes.

“Bill, wait!”

He chased after him, having to stop and brace himself against a few supply crates. He doubled over and heaved again, throwing up more blood. His vision was tunneling again, but he needed to shake it off. Needed to find Billy.

“Frankie?” Billy's voice was a little muffled. He hadn't gone far. Frank could see his boots approaching and he slowly forced himself to ease up from his crouch. He sat down slowly on a crate, and Billy was standing over him.

“I'm sorry, Billy,” Frank said quickly, looking up at him, taking in his brother and the blood smeared onto his face, and the haunted look that made his eyes look even blacker in the dim moonlight. “I haven’t been good to you, Billy, haven't.” He rubbed his hands together, he wanted to, but he wouldn't touch Billy with them. He could feel the blood flaking off them, and he wanted to get them somewhere where they could clean up. “I'm sorry.”

“No, Frank. You've, you've been really good,” Billy promised, and slowly lowered himself down to take a seat beside him. Frank shook his head.  
  
“I knew it was a trap, I still let us go. Court martial or going off to our death, and I fucking chose death? We know the shit we do here... It ain't good. And I didn't even _think_ about stopping, getting out. You did. You've been thinking about it for a while, haven't you? And here it didn't even fucking occur to me that we could stop.” He laughed in disgust with himself. “Never just wanted to be someone's attack dog, but I let myself fall into it so easy... But you're right. We can't do it anymore, can we?”

“We can't.” Billy's shoulders sagged with relief when he could see Frank meant it. He knew why Frank wasn't touching him, but he couldn't stand it for another second. He wrapped his arms around the man, and crushed him against his chest. He apologized quietly for the groan of pain it brought, but he could feel Frank's arms wrapping around him just as tight. “We're done?”

“Yeah, baby. We're done,” Frank promised, voice a hoarse whisper. “We'll put in for transfer... Finish this tour, then shit... We're not gonna re-up?” he asked, like he couldn't believe it himself. It was hard for Billy to hear, too. They'd been doing this so long, been in this hole so long together, but here they were pulling each other out.

“Nah. We've got bigger and better things going on in our lives, don't we, Castle?”

“Yeah... Yeah,” Frank agreed. “That's right. We do.”


End file.
